Seating, such as chairs and groups of chairs and tables that provide to individuals selectable degrees of accommodation and distraction.
Persons seated in public seating are frequently impatient and distracted. The realities of the situation are often such that a wait may seem longer and be less pleasant than it really is, or should be. It is an objective of a sympathetic supplier of public seating to make the situation as comfortable, and as pleasant as possible. However, as will be seen, there are limitations as to how far these efforts can go.
Especially in medical and surgical offices, the accommodation of waiting patients and their companions is a significant problem, requiring tolerance and empathy for the discomfort and attitude of ailing and impatient persons who are often impaired or otherwise suffering from worry and concern for themselves and for others dear to them, and who are impatient with delays. Beyond this compassionate concern is the sensible objective of providing them with safe and accessible seating structures which will support them without adding to their miseries, and from which they can rise without unnecessary additional discomfort.
As to their comfort, when they are seated, it is usually best for their feet to rest directly on the floor without constricting circulation of the blood to the legs. For patients with many of the most frequent ailments, it is also useful to provide seat motion that can be restful or distracting. A rocking motion is an example. However for other types of ailments, such as some heart problems, such motion should be avoided because of the possibility of a fright reaction when the person sits down on a chair which yields and rocks. Chairs according to this invention can prevent or allow the rocking motion.
Sanitation in all public seating, medical and otherwise, is a serious concern. Ease of cleaning, such as by steam cleaning and wash-down with astringent solutions are objectives which often cannot be met without severely damaging the seat, for example its upholstery. It is an object of this invention to provide seating structures which can comfortably support a person and which can be sanitized without disassembly or damage.
With all of these variables (and more) the doctor is faced with another problem. His waiting room is real estate which for economic reasons should be kept as small as possible and yet should be uncluttered, attractive, comfortable, and suitable to his clientele. This situation is shared by all providers of public seating, not merely doctors.
Persons who have endured long waits in these rooms will confirm that, while there have been efforts to alleviate at least some of the problems, it is rare to feel comfortably seated in a doctor""s waiting room, in large part because the seating is so basically uncomfortable, and also because the room is so ordinary.
This situation is not confined to the medical and surgical fields. Airport waiting rooms and holding rooms in various institutions are other examples, for example unemployment offices. These environmental situations can profit from this invention, as well.
Some of the problems arise not only from the type of materials used for the furniture, but also in how they support the individual. Wooden benches with unyielding platforms or slats, with or without cushions are well-known for their discomfort. Similarly, suspended fabrics that droop, or cushions that do not support or are too hard, are too well-known.
Unyielding structures, and structures that rock but are not self-limiting, and which require steadiness of the occupant are not only uncomfortable, but often are risky and alarming to a patient who needs sensible restraint. For example, some coronary patients require firm stability, and some patients with balance disorders are distressed by a movable support.
It is an object of this invention to provide seating units with sensibly deflectable support that conforms to a limited extent to the user""s shape, and which can, if desired, be adapted for limited rocking motion with minimal changes in the alignment of the user""s seat, legs and back.
It is another object of this invention to provide a plurality of such devices whereby they can be arranged and assembled together in groups, all the while.being attractive as well as comfortable.
In addition, the rocking elements can preferably either be locked out or eliminated entirely for use in situations where the user would possibly be alarmed by movement of the structure. Heart disease patients constitute an example of such people.
The seat and its control are so disposed and arranged that in any tilted position, the seat allows the user to rest his or her feet on the floor, without localized compressive contact on the legs that would lead to discomfort, or which could make it more difficult to rise from the seat.
A seat according to this invention includes a base, a control, and a support. The support is mounted to the base by the control. The control preferably provides for a knee action tilt movement that enables the support to engage in a rocking motion. Optionally, this movement may be disabled (or not provided at all) so that the support could be locked to the base in a selected alignment.
The base has two laterally spaced apart struts, with two legs each that contact the floor, with an intersection forwardly of the midpoint between their points of contact with the ground.
The support is intended comfortably to receive the seated person. It includes a bottom and a back. While both the bottom and the back may be made of rigid material, this invention enables the use of flexible material for both which is able to afford at least some conformation with the user.
The support is mounted to the base by a control supported by the base beneath the support. The control preferably is mounted between bridging cross arms extending between two sides of the support. The support is thereby mounted to and above the base with the capacity either to rock relative to the base, or to be locked or otherwise held in one position above the base. A second set of bridging cross arms extends between the struts.
According to a preferred but optional feature of the invention, the forward edge of the bottom is curled downwardly, with a radius which will allow an average person to sit on the bottom with his or her feet flat on the floor, comfortably and without restrictive compressive pressure on the bottom of the legs under the knee. Especially when the control permits rocking movement, the user can leave the seat while his or her feet are flat on the ground, and will-not tend to tumble or slip when the support tilts forwardly. This enables a safe and comfortable exit from the seat.
According to a preferred but optional feature of the invention, the control includes a reference pivot rigidly fixed relative to the base whose axis of rotation is located near the center of the radius of the lip of the bottom of the support, and by this arrangement is under the knee.
The support""s center of gravity is behind the reference pivot, so that with or without the capacity to rock, the user""s center of gravity will be behind the pivot point. When rocking motion is to be enabled, the control comprises a control arm fixed to the support and rotatably mounted to the base, a stiff flexure comprising a cantilever arm rigidly mounted to the base, and a contactor rigidly mounted to the support and in contact with the cantilever arm. The unloaded contact of the contactor and the cantilever arm biases the support toward its upright position.
According to a preferred but optional feature of the invention, rear struts of the base are provided at their ground-contacting ends with rollers and rigid pads. The pads are in contact with the floor when the seat is intended to be stationary. The rollers are mounted such that when the unloaded base is tilted, the rollers and not the pads contact the floor so the seat can readily be moved around.
According to still another preferred but optional feature of this invention, all of its parts are constructed of materials that will not be damaged by water, steam, or by conventional sanitizing solutions.